Written Answers Thursday 21 October 2010

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints were registered against the air ambulance service in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2008-09, (c) 2009-10, broken down by NHS board area.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

Ferry Services

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the consultancy contract that it has awarded in order to provide advice or carry out research on lifeline ferry services since May 2007, broken down by the (a) name of the consultancy, (b) value of the contract, and (c) description of the contract specification, and, in the case of contracts that have been completed, whether the full final report has been published or otherwise made publicly available.

Stewart Stevenson: The following contracts have been awarded in respect of the Scottish ferries review and Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) since May 2007 to carry out research or provide advice and similar services in relation to the provision of ferry services:

  

Name of Company
Value of Contract
Description of Contract


Transport Research Institute (TRi)
£108,740 (reduced from original agreed cost of £140,390) 
Ferries Review Work Package 1:
Methods of delivery, competition and procurement - report not published but subsequently released under Freedom of Information legislation.
TRi pantrak freight report – report published as part of the ferries review 


MVA
£254,154
Ferries Review Work Package 2: Fares, funding, cost and affordability, integration, services and routes, and coordination of all work packages and drafting of ferries strategy.Published reports:
Cost and affordability report 
Fares report 
Funding report 
Routes services and integration report


MVA
£48,000 
Ferries Review Stated Preference Study - Report not published but used in preparation of other reports


Colin Buchanan and Partners
£50,623 
Ferries Review Data Collection - Report not published but used in preparation of other reports


Halcrow
Final cost to be determined.
Monitoring and analysis of RET Pilot: ongoing work.  Reports published so far:RET Phase 1 Reports:
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
RET 1st monitoring report – Summary (July 2009)
RET 2nd monitoring report (February 2010)

  RET Interim Evaluation Report (April 2010)


MVA
£6,560
Carrying out the initial stages of the routes and services methodology as part of the ferries review

Ferry Services

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-36066 and S3W-36059 by Stewart Stevenson on 30 September 2010, whether its "regular ongoing contact about ferry services in Scotland with a range of public bodies" included discussions with (a) Orkney Islands Council, (b) Shetland Islands Council and (c) Argyll and Bute Council regarding its plan to extend the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot on the Western Isles routes for a further 12 months before that decision was (i) taken and (ii) announced.

Stewart Stevenson: Orkney Islands Council, Shetland Islands Council and Argyll and Bute Council have, through regular road equivalent tariff (RET) stakeholder meetings, and the recent Scottish ferries review meetings, been kept fully involved and informed during all stages of the RET pilot.

Firearms

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is regarding the judgement by the European Court of Human Rights in 2004 in the Makaratzis versus Greece case that there exists "a primary duty on the State to secure the right to life by putting in place an appropriate legal and administrative framework defining the limited circumstances in which law-enforcement officials may use force and firearms" and whether it has put such a framework in place.

Kenny MacAskill: The responsibility to put in place an appropriate legal and administrative framework as required by Article 2 and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in relation to firearms lies with the UK Government. The Firearms Act 1968 puts in place the legislative framework for the control of firearms in the United Kingdom. The UK Government has also issued a code of practice, "The Manual of Guidance on the Management, Command and Deployment of Armed Officers" which is endorsed by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

Firearms

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S3O-11163 by Kenny MacAskill on 1 July 2010 ( Official Report , c.28175), that the police are only bound by those sections of the Firearms Act 1968 that specifically refer to them, whether this means that the police are not bound by other parts of the Act that do not specifically mention police officers or agents of the Crown.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government’s understanding is that Section 54(1) of the Firearms Act 1968 expressly applies only sections 1, 2, 7 to 13 and 26A to 32 of the Act to persons in the service of Her Majesty. Section 54(3) includes members of a police force within the definition of those in the service of Her Majesty. Our understanding therefore is that police officers are not bound by parts of the Act which are not specifically listed in Section 54(1).

Firearms

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that chief constables have the power to issue XREP shotgun Tasers to frontline officers without authorisation from ministers.

Kenny MacAskill: Police forces are deemed to be in the service of Her Majesty under section 54(3) of the Firearms Act 1968 and they are therefore lawfully able to acquire items prohibited under section 5 of the Act, including X12 Tasers, which discharge XREP ammunition. The police do not need authorisation from Scottish Ministers in order to purchase, issue or deploy Tasers. No Scottish police force has used X12 Tasers.

General Practitioners

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP appointments have been missed in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not collected centrally.

Hospices

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of the guidance on adult hospice funding set out in Health Department Letter HDL(2003)18 has been completed and when it will be published.

Nicola Sturgeon: The review of HDL(2003)18 which provides guidance on the funding of specialist palliative care provided by independent voluntary hospices in Scotland has now been completed and a draft version of the revised guidance has been circulated to NHS boards and independent voluntary hospices for final comments.

  The revised guidance will be published on the Scottish Government’s website after due consideration of any comments.

Justice

James Kelly (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many reported crimes listed as production, manufacture or cultivation of drugs there have been in each police force area in each of the last 10 years.

Kenny MacAskill: Drugs Related Crimes Recorded by the Police, Broken Down by Police Force Area, 2000-01 to 2009-10: Production, Manufacture or Cultivation of Drugs

  

 
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10


Central
3
4
7
6
18
13
9
15
22
24


Dumfries and Galloway
4
2
6
5
4
7
5
11
11
19


Fife
13
33
37
35
42
42
64
51
94
110


Grampian
3
3
15
19
28
30
65
66
80
86


Lothian and Borders
40
32
44
53
52
80
91
112
111
165


Northern
10
8
16
17
9
15
12
27
29
31


Strathclyde
54
55
66
92
87
88
163
176
226
280


Tayside
4
7
14
22
14
22
28
32
36
38


Scotland
131
144
205
249
254
297
437
490
609
753



  Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

  In response to intelligence in 2006 that organised crime groups were becoming increasingly involved in cannabis cultivation, distribution and supply, Scotland's police forces launched joint intelligence and enforcement operations right across the country to crack down upon these plants wherever and whenever they occurred. The figures provided show the results of increased enforcement and detection by the police to expose these criminal enterprises and bring those responsible to justice.

NHS Hospitals

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive where the new Alexandria Medical Centre is to be sited and when it will be open to the public.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Vision for the Vale of Leven Hospital , approved by the NHS board and I during 2009, set the site for the new health and care Centre within the grounds of the Vale of Leven Hospital and adjacent to the main entrance to the hospital site.

  The outline business case for the new centre included a site options appraisal which considered all other sites in the locality, including the site at Mitchell Way, around which a possible expansion to the land available has most recently been considered. At the time of the site options appraisal it was not just the size of the site that resulted in it scoring lower than the preferred option at the hospital.

  In taking the project forward, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has now selected Laing O'Rourke as the principal supply chain partner, who will work with the board, under the Framework Scotland procurement process, to develop the design for the new centre, establish the target price for the new centre and contribute to the preparation of the full business case (FBC). The FBC will be the process that establishes the timelines for the construction, and subsequent occupation, of the new centre.

NHS Hospitals

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to refurbish the Christie ward at the Vale of Leven Hospital following the damage caused by fire in July 2010, and when it expects this work to be completed.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde will consider all the options, including representations from the Vale of Leven Monitoring Group, at their board meeting on 26 October 2010.

NHS Hospitals

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assurance it can give that the services provided by the Christie ward at the Vale of Leven Hospital will remain at the hospital on a permanent basis.

Nicola Sturgeon: No decisions have been made about the future of local inpatient mental health services. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the Vale Monitoring Group are to consider demand for the inpatient service, as well as the provision of enhanced community services, over the next eight to 10 months, and will then submit a report to ministers.

NHS Hospitals

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assurance it can give to staff and patients of the Vale of Leven Hospital that there are no plans to close the hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: I can give an absolute assurance to local staff and patients that there are no plans to close the Vale of Leven Hospital. Indeed, it was this Government that put an end to a decade of damaging uncertainty by delivering a viable future for the hospital through the agreement of the Vision for the Vale of Leven Hospital .

NHS Staff

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the NHS has spent on staff uniforms in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS employees have been assaulted in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government does not hold this information centrally and this is a matter for individual employers.

  In the 2008 NHS Scotland staff survey, 18% of staff reported they had personally experienced a violent or aggressive incident in the last 12 months. This was a significant reduction on the 2006 staff survey results, where 28% of staff reported having experienced an incident.

NHS Staff

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been prosecuted for assaulting an NHS employee under regulations introduced in 2007 to extend the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table details the number of court proceedings under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005.

  Persons Proceeded Against in Scottish Courts for Offences Under the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005 1, 2005-06 to 2008-09

  

 
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09


Section 1(1)
12
47
44
76


Section 2(1)
14
78
96
79


Section 3(1)
0
3
2
4


Section 5(1)
31
84
145
150


Total
57
212
287
309



  Note: 1. Where main offence.

NHS Staff

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS employees have received compensation payments following an assault in each year since 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government does not request information from NHS boards on the numbers of staff or details of staff receiving compensation payments. Therefore this information is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many anaesthetists have been employed at the Vale of Leven Hospital in each year since 1999.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is presented in the following table, as provided by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

  

Financial Year
Number of Anaesthetists


1999-2000
10


2000-01
10


2001-02
7


2002-03
10


2003-04
9*


2004-05
11


2005-06
9


2006-07
10


2007-08
11


2008-09
10*


2009-10
10


2010-11
9#



  Notes:

  The table details the number of anesthetists across all grades. Registrars, although appointed to Vale posts, have had minimal input since locum consultants were appointed in 2005.

  * the total includes an in-year retirement.

  # reflects the position as at end of September 2010.

  Source: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

NHS Staff

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many working days were lost in the NHS due to staff illness in (a) 2006-07, (b) 2007-08, (c) 2008-09 and (d) 2009-10 in hospitals administered by NHS (i) Borders, (ii) Dumfries and Galloway, (iii) Lothian, (iv) Ayrshire and Arran and (v) Lanarkshire and how many were attributed to infections that resulted in the closure of wards.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on working days lost due to staff illness in hospitals administered by the NHS is not centrally collected. However, information on hours lost due to sickness absence by NHS board is collected. Relevant details are presented in the following table:

  Sickness Absence Hours Lost by Selected NHS Board: Year Ending 31 March

  

 
Hours lost
 


 
2007
2008
2009
2010


Borders
242259.9
251650.5
250586.1
244021.0


Dumfries and Galloway
322110.4
363970.8
325336.9
324456.6


Lothian
1792335.2
1797734.7
1700165.5
1689524.0


Ayrshire and Arran
951889.8
945862.6
958661.5
849519.4


Lanarkshire
1183500.5
1125863.0
975881.2
895184.5



  Source: Scottish Workforce Information Standard System (SWISS)

  Information about how many days lost were attributed to infections that resulted in the closure of wards is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours of specialist cleft lip and palate care is provided to babies and young children on a weekly basis by clinical nurse specialists in NHS (a) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (b) Lothian, also expressed as a percentage of their working week.

Nicola Sturgeon: In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, three clinical nurse specialists provide 51 hours of specialist cleft lip and palate care per week. This represents 100% of their working week.

  In NHS Lothian, two clinical nurse specialists provide 56.25 hours of specialist cleft lip and palate care per week. This represents 100% of their working week.

NHS Staff

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the clinical nurse specialists for cleft lip and palate care in NHS (a) Greater Glasgow and Clyde and (b) Lothian have been withdrawn from 20% of their specialist hours to cover general duties at the children’s wards of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in (i) Glasgow and (ii) Edinburgh respectively.

Nicola Sturgeon: Clinical nurse specialists for cleft lip and palate care in NHS Lothian and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have not been withdrawn to cover general nursing duties.

  Over the last six months the two clinical nurse specialists for cleft lip and palate care in NHS Lothian have worked a total of 12 hours in theatre recovery at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh. This time has been used to refresh their skills and, more importantly, to facilitate education for non-specialist staff on the post-operative care of children with cleft lip and palate conditions. This latter element is a key component of the role of the clinical nurse specialist and entirely in keeping with our plans for continuous improvement of the quality of care for all patients. In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde the hours and working patterns of the clinical nurse specialists in the cleft lip and palate service remain unaltered.

Scottish Cabinet

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were of the meetings of the summer Cabinet programme 2010 held in (a) Dornoch, (b) Stirling, (c) the Isle of Bute and (d) Kilmarnock, also broken down by (i) staff time, (ii) staff travel, (iii) staff accommodation, (iv) ministerial accommodation, (v) venue hire and set up and (vi) publicity.

Bruce Crawford: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available and a copy will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 51883).

  Work on the Cabinet’s summer programme was carried out across directorates as part of officials’ normal duties and is not therefore separately quantified.

Scottish Development International

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was paid to Hudson Global for the (a) original and (b) second recruitment process for the appointment of the chief executive of Scottish Development International that took place between August and September 2010.

John Swinney: Hudson Global has been paid £10,869 (including VAT) for each executive search activity relating to the recruitment exercise for the chief executive of Scottish Development International to date. There will be a further payment on project completion.